Yarn clearing apparatus and method



Oct. 31, 1961 P. PIERCY 3,006,056

YARN CLEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed March 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR:

PINK L. PAsRcY 5 Oct. 31, 1961 P. L. PIERCY 3,006,056

YARN CLEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed March 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR: P/HK L. PIE/em 3,006,056 YARN CLEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD Pink L. Fiercy, 128 Hudson St., Spartanhurg, S.C.

Filed Mar. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 12,330

7 Claims. (CI. 2868) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting and/or clearing wild yarn, lint, tangles and other loosely attached matter from a strand of yarn or fibrous material prior to winding the latter onto a package. The invention is especially useful in connection with textile machinery such as spoolers, warpers, reelers and other winti ng apparatus adapted to package fibrous strands. Such loosely attached matter, unless removed, will detract from the quality and appearance of the finished strand and of any fabric produced therefrom.

Heretofore, devices such as slub-catchers, eyelets, and tension plates have been employed for detecting and scraping and removing defects from yarn while being wound onto a package. Satisfactory performance of such devices has been impaired on account of the fixed path of travel along which the strand is confined at the point of removal of the defects, resulting in rapid accumulation of the removed material at this point and a consequent added tension which causes premature strand breakage.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus of the class described which will more widely distribute the removed material from the path of travel of the strand and thereby prevent premature strand breakage and stoppage for tying the ends.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for clearing a strand of fibrous material which comprises a plate having an elongated slot therein through which the strand passes and engages alternately the sidewalls thereof, in combination with mechanism for traversing the engaging strand portion within the slot, thereby providing a lateral vibratory action at the point of removal of the objectionable matter from the strand.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method and means for clearing or stripping defects from a strand of yarn wherein the strand is scraped simultaneously during its combined longitudinal and lateral movement relative to the point of scraping whereby vibration is imparted to the strand and the removed defects are distributed over a wider area.

It is another object of this invention to' provide a method of clearing enlargements from fibrous strands, in which the strand is drawn under slight tension across a scraping edge while imparting relative movement between the strand and edge in a direction transversely of the strand.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method of clearing wild yarn and the like from a fibrous strand being wound under slight tension, in which a tensioned length of the strand disposed between two spaced stations is simultaneously moved by centrifugal force around the mean longitudinal path of strand travel as a center as the strand travels longitudinally, and in which a scraping contact is maintained with the outermost periphery of a portion of the centrifugally actuated strand as it travels in a closed orbit.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear when the description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is a transverse sectional view through a textile winding machine showing my invention installed thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2--2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional plan view taken along line $366,656 Patented Get. 31, 1961 33 in FIGURE 2 and showing details of the stopmotion for the winding machine;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional plan view taken along line 44 in FIGURE 2 showing the relationship between the stop-motion and the tension device for the winding machine;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional plan view showing the relationship between a wild yarn catching device or clearer plate 25 and the cone pocket of the winding machine;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 66 in FIGURES 2 and 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional detail view taken along lines 7-7 in FIGURES 2 and 4;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional detail view taken along line 88 in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is an isometric view of the wild yarn catching device 25, and

FIGURE 10 is a schematic view illustrating the path of contact of the yild yarn catching device with the periphery of a longitudinally moving strand as it is unwound endwise from a yarn package.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 19 designates a cross frame or Samson of a conventional automatic spooler having a bobbin pocket 11, a bobbin holder 12 in said pocket for supporting a bobbin of yarn 13, a tension device 14, and a grooved traverse drum 15 which is adapted to wind a strand 16 of yarn or the like onto a cheese 17 through frictional contact with the latter.

Cheese 17 is removably supported on stud shaft 20 extending laterally from the free end of arm 21, said arm being pivoted as at 22 to the upper end of bracket 23 on the frame 10. In operation, the strand 16 is drawn upwardly and endwise from package 13, after which it continues upwardly through a slot 24 in the clearer plate 25, then upwardly into frictional contact with the proximate edges of plates 26 and 27, then upwardly between pivoted snick plate 23 and its oppositely disposed abutting plate 29, and then further upwardly between and in frictional contact with vertically spaced tension rods 30, 31 and 32,. It will be observed in FIG- URES 5 and 9 that the elongated slot 24 in clearer plate 25 has a transversely disposed slot 24a communicating therewith through the strand 16 may be inserted or removed from slot 24. Strand 16 extends upwardly from rod 32 of tension device 14 into a traversing groove 15a of drum 15 and then onto cheese 17.

The spooler is also equipped with a conventional stopmotion broadly designated by the reference character 35 which, upon breakage of strand 16, causes cheese 17 to be rotated from contact with drum 15 as shown in bold lines, to the dotted line position 17a, thereby preventing further Winding (FIGURES 1 through 4 and 7).

More specifically, the stop motion comprises an arm 36 having spaced tines 37 and 33 on the free end thereof (FIG. 7), which tines are normally pressed against upwardly moving strand 16 at points located respectively above and below tension rod 34-. Ann 36 has its other end fixedly secured to vertically disposed rod 39, said rod being mounted for oscillation in bracket 40 secured to the frame 10. The upper portion of rod 39 has one end of a lever 45 fixedly secured thereto, the free end of which engages the lower portion of a loop member 46 which is pivotally suspended as at 47 from a lever arm 21a. The arm 21a is integral, with arm 21 upon which the cheese 17 is mounted as previously described.

In or-derto hold the tines 37 and 38 in contact with upwardly moving strand portion 16 as shown in FIG- URES 2,. 4 and 7, a torsion spring 48 is mounted around rod 39, the lower end of said spring being secured to the bracket 40 as at 50, and its upper end to arm 45 (FIG. 3). It will also be noted that the lower .engagement with strand 16.

end of loop member 46 is disposed opposite to, but normally out of the path of travel of, the free end of a rocker lever 51 (FIGS. 1 and 2). When strand 16 becomes broken, the tines 37 and 38 and their supporting arm 36 are caused by torsion spring 48 to rotate in a clockwise manner about vertical axis of rod 39 in FIG- URE 4, or to the left in FIGURE '7, thereby causing lever 45 to move the lower end of loop member 46 into the path of rocker lever 51. Upon engagement of lever 51 with the lower end of loop member 46, the arms 21 and 21a will be caused to rotate cheese 17 out of engagement with traverse drum 15.

The tensiondevice 14 comprising a block 54 for supporting the previously described tension members 26 through 32 in substantially parallel and vertically spaced relationship, said block having a lower flattened base resting upon the clearer plate 25 and secured in position by suitable means such as screw 55. The clearer plate, in turn, rests upon the overhanging top portion 11a of the bobbin pocket 11 (FIG. 4).

The snick plate 28 of the tension device 14 has one edge thereof yieldably secured to rod 57 by means of a screw 58 and a compression spring 59 disposed around said screw in the manner shown in FIGURE 7, said rod 57 being mounted for oscillation in block 54. A tension spring 60 (FIGURE 6) normally tends to rotate rod 57 and the associated snick plate 28 in a counterclockwise direction to thereby urge the free end of the snick plate toward abutting plate 2? and into clamping In order to provide means for manually releasing the freeedge of the snick plate from clamping position, a radially projecting arm 62 is provided on rod 57, the free end of arm 62 being engaged by a vertically movable hand-pressed plate 63 which is yieldably held in elevated position by a compression spring 64.

The above-described bobbin pocket 11, bobbin holder 12, tensioning device 14, traverse drum and stop motion 35 are conventional, but have been shown in the drawings and described in the specification as one of several suitable environments for the operation of yarn clearing plate 25.

The clearer plate is adjustably held in position by the screw 55, said screw penetrating an edge slot 65 (FIG. 9). By observing FIGURE 5, it can be seen that plate 25 is positioned on portion 11a of the bobbin pocket with the longitudinal slot 24 disposed transversely of, and centrally disposed about, the mean upward path of strand 16. Also the plate 25 is so positioned that the transverse slot 24a coincides with slot 11b in the top portion 11a. The edge slot 65 permits adjustment of the position of plate longitudinally of slot 11b.

It will also be observed that the tension members 26 through 28, spaced above the clearer plate 25, cause the upwardly moving'strand 16 to converge into a substantially fixed path of travel, while the strand portion therebelow as it is withdrawn from package 13 is subjected to centrifugal -movement about the mean upward path of strand travel. In other words, the unwinding strand portion between tension plate 26 and the package 13 sub stantially generates a cone surface having its apex near plate 26. The lateral extremities of the positions of strand 16, when unwinding, is shown in dotted lines as at 16a and 16b in FIGURES 7 and 8.

Although the apex of the cone surface may be caused to travel through a substantially fixed point as described, it is evident from the drawings that the present invention is not so limited, but will operate with the same eflicieney where there is a small lateral movement of the apex during each turn of strand unwound endwise from the yarn holder.

16 to be traversed back and forth a relatively small distance longitudinally of plate 26 by the action of traverse drum 15 in a well known manner. During-the unwinding For example, in the present embodiment the tensioning device 14 is sometimes set to permitthe strand of a single turn of strand from holder 12 under the suggested operating condition, the apex of the conical surface would move only a fraction of the total traverse distance and, accordingly, could be considered as fixed for all practical purposes.

The above-mentioned cone surface generated by the unwinding of strand 16 from cone 13 is flattened slightly near the apex by the action of slot 24, which slot causes the strand to be deflected inwardly from the surface of a perfect cone. Stated differently, the slot forms a bight in the strand and causes it to follow two substantially parallel chordal paths in the circular cross-section of the perfect cone surface at the slot. Thus, during each unwound turn of the yarn 16 from package 13, the strand portion moves back and forth within slot 24 while successively engaging the slot sidewalls 24c, 24d, and 24a. Inasmuch as the strand portion must abridge transverse slot 24a when moving from sidewall 240 to 24d, the corners 24 and 24g are rounded at the point where slots 24 and 24a merge. Proper adjustment of the position of plate 25 as previously described, is also essential to prevent hanging of the yarn at corners 24 and 24g. It is of course understood that the slot 24 must vary in size and shape in accordance with the size yarn being wound as well as with the position of the slot relative to the unwinding package and the apex of the conical surface generated by the strand.

FIGURE 10 illustrates the substantially spiraled path of contact of the strand 16 with the slot sidewalls 24c, 24d, 24 and 24g during the unwinding of one turn of strand from package 13, the length of said turn being designated by L. Let us assume for example, that upwardly moving strand 16 is also moving counterclockwise laterally around and in engagement with the slot sidewalls from the position shown in FIGURE 9. The point of contact of strand 16 with sidewall 240 is designated by reference character 67 in FIGURE 10, and the spiraled path of interrupted contact during one unwound turn from package 13 is designated by broken line 68. As the strand portion moves counterclockwise around the slot sidewalls from the position shown in FIGURE 9, the sidewall contact or path 68 is interrupted at 69 (FIGURE 10) when the strand passes across slot 24a, then again at 70 when passing from sidewall 24d to 24c, and finally at 71 when passing from sidewall 24e to 24c. During this orbit of strand travel, the sidewalls of the slot 24 scrapes the wild yarn, slubs, and other loosely attached matter from .the periphery of the strand along path 68 and deposits it along the sidewall edges as at 72 (FIGURE 7).

By causing the strand 16 to traverse the elongated slot 24 simultaneously with its engagement with the sidewalls thereof, the removed material is more widely distributed, thereby reducing the tendency to choke the slot at the point of entrance of the strand and cause increased strand tension and breakage.

The location of the slotted clearer plate 25 immediately above the package 13 in the manner shown and described is highly important inasmuch as the unwinding strand portion, which follows a circular path at the package, will be deflected inwardly bythe slot sidewalls at a plane thereabove disposed transversely to the mean upward path of strand travel. Moreover, by locating the slot 24 near the point of unwinding of the strand, and by providing a laterally unsupported strand length between the clearer plate 25 and the package 13, the centrifugal force imparted to the ballooning unsupported strand length will cast off and loosen the wild yarn and the like preparatory to and immediately preceding scraping contact at the slot sidewalls.

In the drawings and specification, a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed, and although specific terms are employed they are not intended for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a yarn packaging machine having means for unwinding a strand of yarn endwise from a cone, bobbin, spool or other package and onto a desired package, and guide means disposed in spaced relation to and substantially in alinement with the axis of said unwinding package, said means preventing substantial lateral movement of the engaged portion of the strand during each unwound turn of strand from the last-named package, whereby each unwound turn of strand portion between said unwinding package and said guide means will generate substantially a conical surface, an improved means for clearing wild fibers and the like from said strand comprising, a transversely disposed plate positioned between and in spaced relation to said unwinding package and said guide means, said plate having a slot therein substantially alined with the mean path of travel of said strand portion between the unwinding package and said guide means and through which the strand is adapted to pass, the opposed longer sidewalls of said slot being spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of a cross-section through said conical surface at said slot and greater than the strand diameter, whereby during each unwound turn from the package the strand will be caused to traverse said slot and successively engage the opposed longer slot sidewalls to clear the strand.

2. In apparatus for clearing wild fibers and the like from a strand of yarn comprising, the combination of means for unwinding said strand endwise from one package and onto a desired package, guide means in spaced relation to and in axial alinement with said first package, said means preventing substantial lateral movement of the engaged portion of said strand during each unwound turn of strand from the first package, whereby each unwound turn of strand portion between said first package and said guide means will generate substantially a conical surface, and means including a transversely disposed edge intersecting an arcuate segment of said conical surface and engageable by said strand portion during each unwound turn from the package.

3. Strand clearing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said last-named means comprises at least one transversely disposed scraping edge intersecting said conically shaped surface substantially along a chordal path.

4. Apparatus for clearing wild fibers and the like from a strand of yarn comprising, a C-shaped scraping edge substantially encircling the strand, means for drawing said strand longitudinally thereof under slight tension across and in contact with said edge, and means operable simultaneously with the longitudinal strand movement for imparting relative movement between the strand and edge in a direction longitudinally of the latter.

5. Apparatus for clearing wild fibers and the like from a strand of yarn comprising, means for pulling said strand longitudinally thereof, means for applying slight tension to a laterally unsupported length of said strand between two spaced stations positioned along the length of the tensioned strand, centrifugally actuated means for bodily rotating said unsupported strand length substantially in the surface of a cone whose axis substantially coincides with the mean longitudinal path of travel of the strand, and means engageable by said centrifugally actuated strand portion for stripping Wild fibers and the like from the strand.

6. Wild yarn clearing apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said last-named means comprises a plate having an edge disposed transversely of said centrifugally actuated strand portion for scraping the outermost peripheral portion of the strand.

7. That method of removing wild fibers and the like from a strand of yarn which comprises the steps of, moving said strand longitudinally while applying relatively light tension to a laterally unsupported length thereof, centrifugally revolving said laterally unsupported and longitudinally moving strand length in a closed orbit about an axis substantially coinciding with its mean path of longitudinal movement, forming a bigh't in said revolving laterally unsupported strand length along a path disposed between said orbit and said axis, and maintaining scraping contact with the strand at said bight as the latter travels along said path to thereby remove the wild fibers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,988,350 Bitter et a1 Jan. 15, 1935 2,122,989 Peterson July 5, 1938 2,781,987 Tashjian Feb. 19, 1957 

